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Trump selected career CIA official Gina Haspel in an administration shake-up announced today in which the president replaced Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with current CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

CIA

Gina Haspel is pictured here in an undated file photo.

Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!

Haspel, who once oversaw the CIA prison in Thailand where terror suspects were waterboarded, must be confirmed by the Senate before she can take over the position as the nation's top spy.

OSS

Gina Haspel is seen here at the 2017 William J. Donovan Award dinner, Oct. 21, 2017.

Before leaving the White House this morning on a trip to California, Trump praised Haspel, who has received numerous honors for her work at the CIA, including the George H.W. Bush Award for excellence in counterterrorism.

"Gina ... who I've worked very closely [with], will be director of CIA," Trump told reporters. "She's an outstanding person who I've gotten to know very well. I've gotten to know a lot of people very well over the last year. I'm really at a point where I'm close to having the cabinet and other things that I want."